Flashpoint

Rating:
Summary: Inventive Plot, Lousy Gun Knowledge, Stock Characters
Review: After reading Flashpoint, I have mixed feelings. On the one hand, I can understand why Suzanne Brockmann is so popular. I've read the occasional romance novel over the years, and Brockmann is by far the best writer I've seen in the genre. Her plot is inventive, her dialogue crisp and witty. She deals up-front and brutally with the reality and results of anti-female prejudice in Arab countries. She understands that people with a military background tend to curse a lot and doesn't flinch from four-letter words. (Thank you, God.) On the other hand, she's pretty weak on the gun stuff, her characters in some cases are cardboard, and there were a couple of moments in Flashpoint that made me want to scream, "What was she THINKING?"

GUN STUFF

Brockmann has one of her characters operating the safety on a revolver. <groan!> Yes, the most egregious, classic, boneheaded gun-related error in fiction, still shambling on, like a zombie refusing to die, in the Year of Our Lord 2004. Okay, here it is: revolvers don't have safety levers. Except for a few pricy custom jobs, never have, never will.

She refers to a "Magnum .357" when the correct term is ".357 Magnum."

She calls the detachable box holding ammunition that inserts into an auto pistol's (...)a "clip." No. It's called a "magazine." A clip is a non-mechanical device, i.e. it has no moving parts, it's just a piece of metal, designed to hold cartridges for storage, or so they can go into a magazine. A magazine is a mechanical device, it has moving parts, designed to hold cartridges so they can go into a firing chamber. Imagine you were a computer programmer, and how jarring you'd find it if a writer referred to a RAM as a ROM. I mean, who cares, they're almost the same thing. Right?

Here's another way to let someone who knows a lot about guns know YOU don't: call the ammunition "bullets." There are actually four components to a centerfire cartridge, only one of which is the bullet - the projectile, the slug, what comes out of the barrel when you pull the trigger. When the entire thing is put together into a unit, it's called a "cartridge" or a "round" (a holdover from blackpowder days when rifle and handgun projectiles actually were round balls).

WHAT THE...?

A couple of scenes had me groaning, "Oh come ON." In one, in the middle of a sandstorm so violent it almost rips the burkha right off a woman's head, a police lieutenant tosses a scarf through the air to one of our main characters....who nonchalantly catches it. No problem. Suuuuure....

Later, after starting a firefight in a warlord's palace, all our main characters are extracted by helicopter. Realizing they've left an innocent man behind, the chopper turns around, drops two team members off right outside the palace's front door - remember that - then boogies. Even later, the chopper returns again, creates a distraction on one side of the palace, then flies around and picks up the two team members who are hiding with the unconscious innocent, before they all fly off into the sunset.

You want to run that by me again?

You think when a helicopter drops two heavily armed gunmen off right outside the front door of the palace, some of the dozens of aroused soldiers might just notice that little fact? I'm not saying our heroes, with the strength of ten because their hearts are true, might not be able to fight their way through the entire palace to the deepest, darkest dungeon level, slaughtering bad guys as they go, grab Mr. Unconscious, then carry him as they fight their way back out again. (Though it does seem unlikely, doesn't it.) But if they did, they might be, like, engaged in a wee little bit of a firefight when the chopper returns, instead of hiding unnoticed. Huh?

THE CHARACTERS

The "romance" of Flashpoint is between Diego Nash and Tess Bailey. Diego is tall, dark, movie star handsome, arrogant, egotistical, and a total player who uses women like kleenex, even though, under it all, he's a great guy who's just afraid of commitment. Tess is blond-haired, blue-eyed, freckled, perky, innocent (comparatively), warm, supportive, the All-American girl next door who sees into the heart of this tortured but incredibly hot stud....blah, blah, blah. You've seen it a thousand times. Frankly I found Diego's best friend and partner, Decker, and his relationship with Sophia (I can only hope this will be the focus of the next novel) FAR more interesting, and the characters far more sympathetic than the dysfunctional "hormones above common sense" that passes for love between Diego and Tess. Fortunately this novel ends with Decker and Sophia still circling each other warily. I want to know what happens next. And I guess that's the best thing I can say about Flashpoint.

Rating:
Summary: VERY GOOD ACTION & SUSPENSE NOVEL
Review: As a fan of Brockmann's earlier novels, HEART THROB and a few of her Navy SEALs series books like THE ADMIRAL'S BRIDE, I enjoyed FLASHPOINT for several reasons: the one storyline and the action and suspense. I had not enjoyed her previous Troubleshooters due to the WWII flashbacks and multiple storylines but with the focus on one storyline, the story did begin very slow. The plot of the book took too long to execute. Again, we have a secondary relationship that is slowly developing between Sophia and Deck who were more compelling and had more chemistry when compared to the principal characters Nash and Tess. I liked Tess. She was no nonsense and stood her ground but she was infactuated with Nash and 80% of the book has them going back and forth with their feelings along with the assignment that they are working together. Deck and Sophia had more electricity between them and their story promises to be a good one since Sophia has some baggage.

The negative reviews could stem from the changes that Brockmann incorporated in her novel that worked for me: the one storyline and more action and suspense. The romance is secondary and there are no overlong sex scenes which is a plus for me. If Brockmann is aiming at suspense fans, I'd suggest she work on a plot that is more plausible and executable in a reasonable time frame. The mission in this book too long to excecute. The last 50 pages or so were more compelling that the previous hundred pages.

My grade, B and the reason is that after the initial beginning, the story did drag and I could put this book down and forget about it. I am glad to see that Brockmann seems to be concentrating more on the suspense and less on the usual conventions of romance. She just needs to work on the plot and lose the surfer dude voice which was quite annoying when you have everybody talking like that, it's distracting and if your writing suspense, you'd have to be rid of that first and foremost. A good book.

Rating:
Summary: Same Old, Same Old
Review: Brockmann's stories are pretty much the same. This one was O-kay. Not great, not terrible. I was relieved there was no historical romance thrown in the middle. I liked Tess. Nash was not very interesting - not well developed. Sophia was interesting, and I thought Deck was the most developed character. Dave was also more interesting than Nash. All in all - it's a good book to borrow from the library. The short story with Sam & Alyssa at the end was odd, to put it mildly. Not sure where it came from or why it was there.

Rating:
Summary: Vintage Brockmann
Review: Flashpoint by Suzanne Brockmann is another blockbuster hit.

Tess Bailey, computer geek wants out of the support dept in the worst way. She wants to be a field agent. When she is denied again, Tess quits and goes looking for work with Troubleshooters, Inc., legendary Tom Paoletti. She wasn't prepared to see her one night stand, Agent Jimmy "Diego" Nash. Tess and Jimmy had been skirting around an attraction for months. Then after a mission they had a blazing night together.

Jimmy Nash had enough of the agency and went with his friend Lawrence Decker to work with Tom Paoletti. Now Tess is on their team for a mission to a dangerous foreign country. They are posing as a married couple and the lines between reality and make believe are becoming blurred.

Suzanne Brockmann delivers the action, suspense and the passion. You feel like you are there watching it all unfold. Jimmy and Tess will stay with you for a long time. I really enjoyed this book and will be in line for her next book.

Rating:
Summary: I'm sorry to say... it left me unsatsified.
Review: I am a #1 Suz Brockmann fan who's read all her books. The writing in Flashpoint is technically very good. HOWEVER, as other reviewers have mentioned, it is very hard to be "pulled" into any of these characters. The two main characters are a pushover (Tess) and a foul-mouthed emotional basket case (Nash). It is very difficult to see why Tess would fall in love with Nash. Maybe Suz is trying to create more complicated characters with more demons. However, I think she went too far with Nash. Decker is really the hero of the story who pulls at your heart, yet has only an unresolved subplot. Additionally, the sequence of events (and flashbacks) she uses to tell the story seem ineffective. Who edited this?? I would have definitely made the story more sequential. Doing so may have increased our understanding and empathy of these characters, especially the Nash and Tess relationship. (Suz, I'll volunteer to edit your next book:)) All in all, it's worth a read but is not a keeper. Suz, I'll look forward to your next book with baited breath! Maybe Decker/Sophia??

Rating:
Summary: Suzanne wrote this?
Review: I am a huge fan of Brockmann's, but oh my goodness, I don't think she wrote this installment of the NavySeals. I liked the characters, but their danger and action scenes fell flat for me because of thier behavior and dialog I either wanted to laugh or encourage the terrorists to take them out for violation of good character exchange! I will still read Brockmann because there isn't anyone out there who writes like she does or makes you feel what the characters feel like she does....BUT, I just might have to wait for the next one to hit paperback instead of killing myself to get to the bookstore on the first day of release.

Rating:
Summary: Loved the story, thanks Suzanne!!
Review: I had to write a positive review for this book. I have read all of the Troubleshooters series, and though I missed the characters I have come to know and love, I really enjoyed Nash and Tess. I think Sue is taking this series and elaborating on the plots and character sets, and has done it very well with this example. I love the absence of the flashbacks/sub plot factor in this book as well. Keep up the great work Ms. Brockmann!

Rating:
Summary: Give up the romance for a book or two...
Review: I may be in the minority here, but I enjoy Ms Brockmann's SEAL Team 16 series for the plots and dialogue over the romance. I've been known to skip over the romance scenes and descriptions of Hyper-Emotional-Warriors-in-Love just to find out what will happen next. If she ever wants to venture outside of the romance realm she's known for, I think Brockmann could do quite well with a straight thriller.

I wondered what would happen when all of the SEAL team's stories were told. This new Troubleshooter series seems set up to solve the biggest problem of the series: how many guys can possibly be on this team? At some point, all of their stories have to be told. By creating a spin off, Ms Brockmann allows for two parallel series as she introduces new characters into both the Troubleshooters and SEAL team 16. If she continues to keep up both series, they should nicely compliment each other.

Up to this point, most of the women in Ms Brockmann's books have served only one purpose. They are romantic interests that really don't fit into the working world of the men. The novels end with marriage proposals that seem to shuffle the women off into the background. Hopefully, characters like Tess and Alyssa will continue to be active members of the cast. And, please Ms Brockmann, I know rescues from peril are romantic, but if you're going to create strong, independent women, they shouldn't need men to rescue them constantly.

Flashpoint vies with Over the Edge in terms of plot. The larger international situations Brockmann dreams up are much more intriguing than the smaller, local problems she creates for her characters. Although my favorite Brockmann character is still Max, I am intrigued by the men introduced in Flashpoint. I can't wait to see where their further adventures lead.

Rating:
Summary: Awful dialogue !!!
Review: I typically do not read stories like this, but a neighbor had lent it to me and I figured I'd check it out. The plot isn't bad, but the dialogue is another story. The writing was so unbelievably awful that I had to fight myself to finish it. Phrases like "God damn, Oh god, etc..." were repeated over and over again. I got really sick hearing about Tess's cute freckles and Jimmy's movie star looks/sex drive. The majority of the story line between Tess and Jimmy has them arguing over a one night stand. It was 300 + pages of pretty bad writing. I'd strongly recommend taking a pass on this book. Not worth your time unless you are looking to take a mini-break from Harlequin romances....

Rating:
Summary: I don't think Brockmann's heart was in it!
Review: Maybe I'd give this book three stars if it were written by an average author, but it's by Suzanne Brockmann! Is this fair? Probably. The other reviewers are right when they say that Tess and Jimmy aren't fleshed out, that you don't really feel as if you know them, nor was I drawn to them. I have loved all of Suzanne's long SEAL books, and I bought this one, but wish I hadn't. In Suzanne's other books, I couldn't wait for the protagonists to finally get together, but in Flashpoint, I must confess that I really didn't care. In fact, I was much more interested in Jimmy's partner, Decker. Plus, there was six other minor characters sent to (or native to) this God forsaken country and the characterization was so shallow that I couldn't tell the difference between them. And come on, we're supposed to be in suspense because the team goes to retrieve a laptop, for heavens sake! The action climax almost occurred off the page and Suzanne told us about it, instead of showing us. It took me about four days to finish this book; usually I have read most of her SEAL books in one, compulsive night! All in all, this book reads like an uninspired first draft. My advice to you: don't buy the book.